Charles Owen - The Young Schumann - Carnaval, Op. 9; Papillons, Op. 2; Intermezzi, Op. 4; Abegg - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

I must have been a phylloxera in a former life, sings the man who, at first glance, you wouldn't believe had ever been intoxicated in this life! On closer inspection, however, you notice the mischievous, rascal-like quality that flashes out of his bright blue eyes and signals InchI've got more than you think! And he really does, this Max Müller, known from the TV series InchRosenheim CopsInch as the lovable policeman Michi Mohr! On his new album InchTierisch!Inch he encounters his own weaknesses and imperfections Inchin animal garbInch, so to speak, singing and speaking. Whether in the razor-sharp everyday observations of Joachim Ringelnatz, in the bestial bel canto of Gioacchino Rossini, in the famously animal-friendly Viennese songs of Georg Kreisler, or deep down in the water, where even the fish sing their songs in Christian Morgenstern's songs - everywhere you will meet lots of good acquaintances! Hits of the 30s and 40s like InchDie süßesten FrüchteInch, InchWenn ich mit meinem Dackel...Inch, InchSo ein Regenwurm hat's gutInch, InchIn der Bar zum KrokodilInch and InchAm AmazonasInch are represented as well as poems by Morgenstern and Busch. From Gelsen, die keine Pension zahlen, to Schubert's InchForelleInch and Mozart's InchPapagenoInch, the palette of this ravishingly enjoyable album ranges. Müller's artistic range matches his musical curiosity, diversity and expressiveness. InchTierisch!Inch is already the third by the artist Max Müller on the Solo Musica tag.

With his critically acclaimed AVIE Records recordings of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Faure´ and Sergei Rachmaninov to his credit, the celebrated British pianist Charles Owen scales the heights of Franz Liszt's anthology Annees de pelerinage, Premiere annee Suisse (InchYears of Travel, First Year SwitzerlandInch), which evokes the great 19th-century pianist-composer's Swiss sojourns with aural impressions of the Alpine landscape, it's peaks and valleys, mountains and streams, and the country's distinctive folk music. Literary references abound as they do in the album's concluding piece, the emotional Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude (InchThe Blessing of God in SolitudeInch) which was inspired by a poem penned by Liszt's friend Alphonse de Lamartine. Emotions ran equally high for Charles Owen who turned to Liszt during lockdown. The uncertainty of being homebound throughout the pandemic was eased by the extra meaning and solace of the composer's evocations of journeying, experiencing the natural world and it's sense of beauty and liberation.

Treya Quartet - Complete Barcarolles & Trois Romances Sans Paroles [COMPACT DISCS] Jewel Case Packaging date 07/12/2011